Employee recognition has been a hot topic of late, and with good reason – human resources departments around the globe have found that recognition activities are directly associated with a more positive work culture and productive work environment.
The benefits of employee recognition
Interesting fact: the benefits of engagement protocols aren’t necessarily tied to aspects like length of service or whether it comes in the form of departmental recognition or peer-to-peer support. The fact of the matter is that every single employee will perform better if they receive consistent appreciation for their efforts and constructive advice on improving their productivity within your company – no matter if they’ve worked for your company for 25 years or 2 months.
Here are a few of the benefits your business are likely to enjoy if you implement a recognition strategy in line with your company values:
- An increase in productivity. The first and most important benefit of a recognition programme is an increase in overall productivity. Employees are most productive in workplaces where they feel secure, certain, autonomous, included and fairly treated. By recognising their efforts, you will naturally help them to feel more secure in their role and how they relate to others within in their team. It will also help them to feel connected to and welcome among their peers and provide a confidence boost that provides a sense of control over events that affect them in the workplace. This paves the way for increased productivity, as your employees become more attuned to your business purpose and find a way to focus their intent and manifest their ideals.
- Happier employees. Recognised employees are happy employees, and happy employees who are satisfied in their work environment are key to creating a positive company culture. By providing a sustainable recognition platform that consistently provides positive feedback, you are actively promoting a culture of inclusivity and positive growth.
- Increased engagement. Recognition is one of the key drivers of engagement. Engagement occurs when employees feel good and happy about the company culture and their purpose in that space. By fostering a leadership philosophy that gives credit where credit is due, you are making a shift from an environment built on constraints, compliance and control, to one that allows your employees to challenge themselves and practice self-discipline in a context where they are supported by leaders who want to help them succeed.
- Talent attraction. According to recent statistics, up to 51% of employees are job-hunting while they are still employed by their current company. In today’s competitive job market, high-quality candidates are in huge demand. Digital reach makes it possible for top talent to evaluate their options very carefully before they choose to align themselves with any given company, whether it be in a permanent or freelance capacity. If your business has a reputation for a culture of recognition, this will definitely count in your favour when the time comes to grow and invigorate your team.
- Lower staff turnover. A high staff turnover is never a good thing for any business. Aside from the fact that it hampers internal productivity due to repeated handovers and a loss of information, it also has the potential to tarnish your reputation in the eyes of potential employees, as well as customers. When a customer has to speak to a new person every time they call your office or follow up on the status of a project, it creates friction and distrust. Potential employees are also far less likely to join a team that keeps changing – it makes for a very unstable working environment. As such, it makes sense to keep staff turnover to a minimum. A viable recognition programme actively contributes to a space in which employees feel secure, which means they are less likely to jump ship.
What type of recognition activities get the best results?
In truth, it all depends on the nature of our business and, more importantly, your employees. In certain environments formal recognition in the form of annual recognition awards might do the trick. In others, you may find that incentives such as getaways, vouchers and cumulative points may be the way to go. If your corporation is quite large and you have a generational overlap, you may even find that you need a variety of recognition tools in order to reach your full workforce complement.
In cases like these, it helps to make use of a single platform that allows you to set and manage your recognition budget. This will allow you to evaluate the effectiveness of your overall strategy and to adjust it if a certain component of your strategy fails to deliver, or an unlikely outlier suddenly emerges as one of the most efficient tools in your recognition arsenal.
Are you ready to take your employee recognition to the next level? Try bountiXP for FREE.